Texas cancer-fighting agency gets OK to end grant moratorium

AUSTIN — State leaders are finally lifting a nearly yearlong moratorium on a $3 billion cancer agency in Texas that came unraveled by a criminal investigation and questionable spending.

The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas on Wednesday received approval to resume handing out taxpayer money to grant winners. The ambitious state agency launched in 2009 and controls the second-biggest pot of cancer research dollars in the country.

Gov. Rick Perry and other state leaders halted spending by the agency last December after a lucrative grant to a private Carrollton company was found to have bypassed required scrutiny. Other failings within the agency were also uncovered.

An investigation by public corruption prosecutors remains ongoing.

Lawmakers revamped the agency earlier this year, installing new oversight rules and new leadership.

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